A STUDENT has told of the horror experienced by the people of Thailand after the Boxing Day tsunami.

Claire Burgess, of Well Lane, Weaverham, is spending a year in the South East Asian country teaching English to local youngsters.

While she was 24 hours inland from the coastline devastated by the tsunami, the effects were felt throughout the country.

She says many of her new friends in Thailand know someone who is dead or missing and that aid is urgently needed to help the thousands of people who have been made homeless by the disaster.

And she is appealing for her friends and neighbours back home to give generously to the tsunami appeal.

Claire, a former Sir John Deane's College student who is teaching English to secondary school pupils in Kamphaeng Phet with the Project Trust charity, said: 'After the tsunami struck things have been very different. Thai people are very afraid of the sea now, whether it be near Phuket or not.

'Thailand will be changed forever now that some of its most famous beauty spots contain bodies trapped in debris, mud or floating in the sea. Even the king of Thailand's grandson was killed by the wave.

'The Project Trust volunteers in Thailand and I were very lucky that our towns were not directly affected. However, nearly every day I talk to someone who does not know if their friend or relative is alive or dead - some just keep on trying to get in contact and hope for the best.

'The Sri Lankan volunteers, however, had a closer call. They were awoken when the door of their guest house burst open due to the water. The roomtheywerein begantofillup but thankfully they managed to escape unharmed and were led to safety, learning only later just how close they had come.'

She added: 'The more we all read and see on TV, the more thankful we all are. Everyone is doing what they can to help - people have been making donations and some foreigners have even been carrying bodies, bodies that are so badly decaying that the authorities are no longer able to distinguish race, let alone features. In some places there are now not even enough bags for the bodies.

'Aid and money is greatly needed. Please give whatever you can to help before the spread of disease takes an even greater hold.' In Thailand more than 5,200 are confirmed dead, but that figure is certain to rise. Half the dead are foreigners, from a total of 36 countries.

Thailand has asked for technical help to identify the dead, and a huge operation to take DNA samples from the bodies is under way.